The Constitution should be amended before the approval of Supervision Law, says Ma Huaide 马怀德 China University of Political Science and Law vice president, explaining that otherwise the Supervision Law would not be valid.
The supervision commissions should be categorised as supervision agencies distinct from administrative and judicial agencies, Ma says. Given that supervision commissions will be working together with commissions for discipline inspection, they will be placed under CCDI leadership, he says. Their decisions should also be supervised by judicial organs, he adds.
To address the issue of the relationship between supervision commissions and people's congresses, Ma says that the commissions will supervise congress members, not the institution itself. He argues, however, that the law should specify the levels of service agency employees that fall within its jurisdiction, and clarify whether managers in partially state-owned enterprises count as public sector employees.
Ma believes that individuals under detention should not have access to lawyers, since detention is not a criminal procedure under which individuals are entitled to legal counsel. The distinction between supervision commissions and the procuratorate should be equally clear, he argues, and the latter should be able to make independent legal decisions without having to consult the former. Like other branches of government, supervision commissions should also be required to submit annual reports to people's congresses, says Ma.